I LOVE FALL!!!!!!

I LOVE FALL!!!!I can't decide which is my favorite season: fall or spring. But I love fall so much. I think I like the colors of fall(deep reds, purple, orange), the coziness of fall (fireplaces & sweatshirts w/ jeans),& the tastes of fall(turkey dinner & apple cider). I like the sounds of spring (birds chirping), the smells of spring (fresh cut grass and spring rains), and the weather that spring brings....warmth after winter. But right now, I am feeling all cozy in fall and am grateful for Thanksgiving coming up and the holiday season. So we've had a busy fall....For my birthday on Labor Day this year I asked my kids to go to the apple orchard with me and to pose for pics....and they did!!!! It was warm for our very first apple orchard experience, but I enjoyed it none the less. In October, we've enjoyed the pumpkin patch, family pictures, halloween, I ran my first 10K, and we added a new member to our family. For Halloween, I had superheroes. They were all so fun: Wonder Woman, Batman, & Flash Gordon. Chris & I were the Dark Knight & Super Mom! (Not really, but it made it look like we were dressing up when we wore superhero t-shirts to match the fam.) My 10K went so much better than I expected. It was a gorgeous morning....I ran the entire length of the race (6.2 miles) without walking---which I have never done in any race. I also beat my goal by 9 minutes. So overall I was very pleased with myself. I plan on running the Turkey Day race with my hubby....but after that take a break while he trains for a half-marathon. I'm excited to be his biggest cheerleader. The new additon to our family is a little puppy. After a long debate and some divine intervention via a custard shop's sign, we've named her Josie. She is a little mutt, that looks exactly like a black lab. Hopefully she'll take after mama and not grow so big.... We gave Josie as an early Christmas present to the kids and they are being so good about taking care of her and playing with her. It is so fun to watch!!! Speaking of watching.....I had too many fall pics that I couldn't decide what to post---so I decided to make a slideshow. Enjoy! I sure did creating it.

This free slideshow created with Smilebox

Somewhere over near Branson......

We had a great Halloween weekend this year. We enjoyed time with dear friends, the Gerdels (& the Tapley's, & Maggie & Lane) & the Langs----and our wonderful family. Chris, Greg, Evan, & Nathan ran in the Bass Pro 5K and did great. Missy & her sister in law ran in the half marathon on Sunday and also did amazing. The pumpkin patch was tons of fun even though it was in tin-buck-tu. I had wanted Chris & I to dress up along with the kiddos, but the day just got away from us and our plans were changed and therefore we did not. But I would have been Glenda, the good witch of the North, and Chris would have been the Scarecrow. Eden LOVED being Dorothy, Eli LOVED being a lion, not necessarily the lion from the Wizard of Oz. I think he wanted to be Simba from the Lion King, and Tobe could care less. Although I thought Tobe's was the most fun costume to put together....The other two were borrowed outfits of which I am grateful, but I loved adding the heart to Tobe's outfit (minor details). Anyways I love this pic my friend captured.....I think it depicts the friendship among my kiddos and although they occassionally drive me crazy getting on each other's nerves and mine at the same time, I know they love each other, just like the dear friends in the movie who were there for each other the whole time.